Kaori Mizuno
Kaori Mizuno (水野かおり, Mizuno Kaori) is a main character of the story "An Illegal Kunoichi." She is the younger sister of Amaya Mizuno and Toshi Mizuno, is a member of the Mizuno Clan, and is currently an academy student. Background For the first three years of her life, Kaori lived with her older siblings in the Mizuno compound. However, after other clan members discovered that she possessed the Byakugan they began to despise the young girl. Some even went as far as to threaten the child's life several times before the age of three. These threats caused her older sister to flee the compound with her in tow in order to protect her from being harmed further by the clansmen. Since then, both her and her sister lived with their aunts Suzuki Mitarashi and Anko Mitarashi. During that time, Kaori became very close with Suzuki and started to view her as a second mother. Additionally, she was very fond of Haru Tansho and also began to see him as a father-figure. Once she even mentioned that she wished that Haru was her father instead of Washi Mizuno. Around the age of six she enrolled in the Academy along with Konohamaru and his friends and since then has studied with her classmates in order to become a ninja. Personality Kaori is often described as being very polite, using proper suffixes to address her peers and elders. Like her aunt, she is very concerned with the well-being of others and wishes for no harm to befall those that she cares about. This is demonstrated when she routinely visits Rock Lee during his stay in the hospital. Furthermore, she is very cheerful, optimistic, and always believes that everything happens for a reason and eventually things will be okay. She also has a very innocent and child-like view of the world around her, believing that people are mainly good. However, after the invasion of Konoha during the Chūnin exams, Kaori's personality changes slightly. She no longer believes that all people are good. She still retains her optimistic nature overall but starts to doubt her idea that everything happens for a reason. She still retains her caring for those close to her but begins to dedicate more time to make herself able to protect those she cares about. This is seen by how after the invasion Kaori begins to focus far more on her studies at the Academy and her training. A demonstration of this is when she seeks out Hinata Hyuuga in the hopes that she could train her how to properly use her Byakugan. Additionally, Kaori greatly admires Naruto and Lee. This admiration is demonstrated by her actively calling Naruto, Naruto-sama, and Lee, Lee-sama. She wishes to be more like the two of them and admires the determination both ninja have. Whenever possible, she asks either one of them if they will train her or even spar with her. More times than not, the two will readily agree to her requests as both see the girl as a kid sister. Appearance Kaori has pale skin and straight, purple hair that reaches just past her shoulder blades. She also has featureless white eyes with a slight tinge of lavender. During her early days in the Academy, she wore a pale pink, short-sleeved top and occasionally a light blue jacket over-top. Additionally, she wore navy blue capris and standard shinobi sandals. She is also normally seen wearing a red heart pendant around her neck. After the invasion of Konoha, Kaori's apperance undergoes a change. Instead of wearing a pale pink top with navy capris, she dons a navy blue qipao dress with short sleeves and circular designs similar to the one Sakura Haruno wore in her genin years. She also begins to wear a red sash with the Mizuno clan symbol in the center of it. Additionally, she starts to wear bandages on her thighs up towards her waist. Instead of wearing two red clips on the left side of her head she wears a red flower there. She still continues to wear the heart-pendant necklace and blue shinobi sandals. Abilities Since she has yet to be seen in battle, her abilities are largely unknown as of yet. However, becoming a genin two years earlier than normal, at the age of ten, can help attest to her skills as a kunoichi. At the start of the story, Kaori's abilities were that of an average student. She was just beginning to learn the basics of ninjutsu such as the cloaking technique and the transformation technique. She was also noted to have an aptitude for genjutsu during the brief lesson upon the skill. Following the Invasion of Konoha, Kaori was often at the top of her class due to her new-found determination to protect the village and everything precious to her. She began to focus far more on her studies and even asked Hinata to train her to use her Byakugan. It was at this time that Kaori's potential was realized and since then she has been called a genius comparable to the likes of Saskue. Byakugan Despite not being a member of the Hyūga Clan, Kaori inherited the Byakugan, a kekkei genkai dōjutsu that grants her near 360° vision (with the exception of a small blind spot at the upper thoracic vertebrae), x-ray vision and the ability to see the chakra pathway system. She is among a few members of the Mizuno Clan to have inherited the eyes since the Mizuno Clan used to be a part of the Hyūga Clan many years ago and thus the genetic code for the dojutsu still runs through the veins of some clan members. It has also been noted that despite her Byakugan not being directly from the Hyūga Clan, her eyes are just as strong as Hinata's. Unfortunately, the full capabilities Kaori's eyes give her has yet to be realized. Gentle Fist Under the tutelage of Hinata, Kaori is being taught the Gentle Fist, the signature fighting style of the Hyūga Clan. The skill gives her the ability to cause severe internal trauma with minimal force. It has been shown that Hinata believes Kaori is easily catching onto the basics of the technique. As of now, it is unknown whether Hinata will teach Kaori her own original techniques such as the Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms and the Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists. Ninjutsu Nature Transformation Like her mother, Kaori has an affinity for Wind Release techniques. She learned this during the time skip while training with Amaya before her older sister's year in Sunagakure. However, Kaori has not yet been seen using Wind Release techniques so the extent of her abilities remains a mystery. Chakra Control From the early days at the academy, Kaori learned that in comparison to her classmates she had excellent chakra control. Only shortly after learning techniques she was able to figure out exactly how much chakra she would need for the skill in order to properly use it without needlessly depleting her chakra reserves. This chakra control has been improved upon more as Kaori trains under Hinata to learn the Gentle Fist fighting style. Genjutsu Due to her excellent chakra control, Kaori also has an aptitude for genjutsu much like Sakura Haruno. During Kaori's time at the academy, her instructors noted that she had an gift for the illusion arts. During her class's brief lesson upon the subject she quickly caught on how to know if she was trapped within a genjutsu and also quickly learned some ways to dispel one. However, it is unknown if Kaori will try to learn genjutsu or use this aptitude in another manner. Stats Part I Introduction Arc Kaori makes her first appearance the day before Amaya takes the graduation exam. After leaving class, she runs up and greets her sister. Later that day Amaya and her both work on Kaori's cloaking technique. After Amaya's graduation, she joins in on the celebration. Chūnin Exam Arc Invasion of Konoha Arc Search for Tsunade Arc Sasuke Retrieval Arc Trivia *Kaori's name means strong. *During her time in the Academy, Kaori was at the top of her class following the invasion of Konoha. This allowed her to graduate two years early. *Kaori is the only known member of the Mizuno Clan to not posses the ability to utilize Water Release techniques. *According to the "databooks": **Kaori's hobbies are reading and cultivating flowers. **She wishes to fight no one in particular. **Her favorite foods are things that are sweet and she hates things that are bitter. **Kaori's favorite word is "love." See Also *If you have questions about how Kaori has the Byakugan despite not being a Hyūga Clan member, please refer to the Mizuno Clan article as well as Natsuko Hyūga. Category:Mizuno Clan Category:An Illegal Kunoichi Category:Kameko Sakka